


Day 19: Let It Snow!

by Hapkido9061



Series: 25 Cliché Days of Christmas [19]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Baking, Chen is a disaster, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cooking, KaiSoo - Freeform, M/M, XiuChen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 00:55:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17070455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hapkido9061/pseuds/Hapkido9061
Summary: “I swear to God Jongdae if you burn one more thing I’m going to set off the fire alarms for you.”Or...Where Jongdae burns everything he tries to cook for Christmas and his neighbor/chef/maybe crush Minseok comes to the rescue





	Day 19: Let It Snow!

**Author's Note:**

> I, too, absolutely suck at making any sort of edible food

Jongdae stared at the burnt mess. Not a single emotion showed on his face as the ham continued smoking on top of the stove. Emotions couldn’t convey what he was feeling. Emotions couldn’t help him now. All that was left to do was throw everything away and somehow tell his parents that he wasn’t a competent enough cook to make Christmas dinner.

He spared a glance to his phone to check the time. It was only four in the morning- plenty of time left until his parents were arriving. The only question was, was it enough time to pull out the third spare ham Jongdae had bought and cook everything else? Probably not.

Just as Jongdae was pulling the ham out of the fridge to cut open, his door burst open. He wielded the knife in front of him as a defensive move before realizing it was only Minseok. His neighbor was still in his pajamas- a baggy old t-shirt from high school soccer and holey plaid pajama pants. Even his hair was mussed up in a rat’s nest on the back of his head.

“I swear to God Jongdae if you burn one more thing I’m going to set off the fire alarms for you.”

It was times like these that Jongdae wasn’t sure if giving Minseok the spare key to his apartment was a blessing or a curse. But he was leaning towards the latter when Minseok ripped the knife out of his hand and began removing the plastic wrap from the ham with angry mumbles.

“Was it really that bad?” Jongdae asked with a grimace. He could guess but hearing it from Minseok would confirm the failure that Jongdae felt like. Minseok yawned angrily. Jongdae didn’t even know it was possible to yawn angrily. The things he learns at four AM.

“Why are you even cooking at the ass crack of dawn?” Minseok grumbled as he dug through the cabinets above Jongdae’s counters. He pulled down some honey and brown sugar, looking for a few other things.

“Well why aren’t you using the packet thing?” Jongdae asked, holding up the honey glaze packet that came with the ham. Minseok shot him an offended glare that he even suggested that. Jongdae threw it straight in the trash and let Minseok make whatever he wanted. He was the professional chef out of the two, not Jongdae.

“So care to answer?”

Jongdae sighed, pulling out a chair and collapsing down into it. His feet were more tired than he originally thought. “My parents are coming for Christmas and I was supposed to make dinner. They’re coming with my brother ‘cause I have the biggest place-”

“-that’s an understatement,” Minseok butt in. Jongdae shrugged in agreement. His job did allow him to buy an expensive condo with window walls. Any place that had windows as walls was automatically fancy in Jongdae’s mind.

“-But it’s in like five hours and I know nothing. I burnt the potatoes.”

“Mashed potatoes?” Minseok asked. Jongdae gave a sheepish nod as Minseok just looked absolutely scandalized. “How do you burn mashed potatoes?! You boil them and then mash them by hand!”

“Well they weren’t hot enough or something, I don’t know,” Jongdae snapped back. At his tone, Minseok backed off immediately and finished glazing the ham. Whatever he had made had Jongdae’s mouthwatering and it wasn’t even cooked yet.

“If your parents aren’t coming for a while, the potatoes would have just gotten cold and stuck together. You want to make those, so they’re done right as you’re about to start eating,” Minseok explained. He popped open the oven and waved away the last remaining smoke form Jongdae’s second (and first) ham. It went in with a clang.

Jongdae gave a sullen nod. He would have to remember that for next time. He heaved himself up from the chair and stood to stand next to Minseok and find what should be cooked next. After looking through the little recipe book his mother sent, Jongdae figured it was the salad dressing. That had to be reduced ( _whatever that meant_ , Jongdae thought) and then chilled.

But as he was grabbing the necessary ingredients, Minseok grabbed his wrist. “We don’t need this yet.”

“But, doesn’t cooling take a long time?”

“Not with this recipe,” Minseok chuckled as he scanned through the instructions. “What time are your parents coming?”

“I don’t think until around 11 or something.”

“Good. Go sleep, Dae,” he commanded. With a gentle push, he got Jongdae walking towards the bedroom. “Don’t worry about the cooking.”

“But it’s your day off. I don’t want to make you do stuff here.”

Minseok tapped his butt to get him out of the kitchen. “Promise me I’ll get some of my own leftovers and we’ll call it even, okay?”

With the promise of saving him food, Jongdae stumbled to his bedroom. Taking a whiff of his own clothes, he decided it probably was best to change and still take a shower before his family arrived so he didn’t reek of burnt food and onions. He set his alarm for an hour until his parents would be there and plopped down into bed just in his boxers.

The gentle sound of pots clinking and something starting to simmer on the oven put Jongdae to sleep in an instant. And soon enough, the sweet smell of perfectly made food drifted into his nose and his dreams.

. . .

Jongdae jumped at the sound of his alarm blaring. From first starting to cook and Minseok coming, he only got around four hours of sleep. He rolled out of bed and stumbled straight into the shower connected to his bedroom. After a shower that ended up much longer than he was intending and shaving and brushing his teeth, Jongdae finally sorted through his dress shirts. In the end, he went with a maroon one that matched well with his black slacks. A text from his parents told him that they were half an hour away… twenty-five minutes ago.

He had almost forgot that Minseok had even been there until he came out with a few minutes to spare and the entire table was set. The food was perfect- even better than what one would see in magazines. Jongdae’s dropped down in amazement at what Minseok had created.

The ham was golden brown and cut into even slices, the green beans he was just going to boil were baked with full carrots and covered in a sweet honey and brown sugar sauce, the potatoes creamier than his lumpy mess. There were even more sides and foods than what Jongdae originally planned to make.

His chest felt funny, in that tight way he hadn’t felt since high school and he had to be partners on a project with his crush. Minseok had gone home to get more food just to make Jongdae have a better meal. And he wasn’t too sure what he felt about that. Speaking of Minseok, the elder had already gone home to his own condo as he couldn’t be seen anywhere in sight.

On the table between the glass and plate near the head, Jongdae picked up a small handwritten note. All it said was ‘good luck’ in Minseok’s fancy handwriting, but Jongdae still couldn’t help the smile. The doorbell rang and he was quick to shove the note in his pocket. If his parents found out that he didn’t cook all of this, they certainly wouldn’t be mad but he would never hear the end of it.

“Mom! Dad! Come in!” Jongdae said with as much enthusiasm he could muster on so little sleep. “Jongin, I… didn’t know you were bringing someone,” Jongdae finished off lamely as he saw a man he didn’t recognize follow his younger brother in. He politely smiled and offered his hand.

“I’m this idiot’s brother Jongdae.”

“I’m this idiot’s boyfriend, Kyungsoo,” the shorter man responded. Jongin looked offended and Jongdae knew this one was already a keeper. “Jongdae? That name sounds familiar…”

Jongdae cocked his head to the side. He certainly didn’t recognize Kyungsoo or knew his name. The latter hung up his coat, dropping the issue.

“My goodness, this looks incredible!”

“See, I told you, you could do it Dae.”

He turned back to his parents examining the food with eager stares. Jongdae waved for everyone to sit around the table and begin eating. Jongin, of course, went straight for the meat and took too many pieces for a single person. Jongdae laughed as Kyungsoo knocked him on the back of the head and stole some straight off his plate.

The entire dinner went perfectly, minus the glances Kyungsoo gave him occasionally. When it was time to clean up, Jongdae volunteered himself to do the dishes and Kyungsoo jumped in saying he would help as well. Jongin didn’t complain and instead went straight for the wrap around couch and plopped down for a long nap.

“So you’re the infamous Jongdae, huh?”

“What?” Jongdae asked as he was elbow deep in sudsy water. He had no clue what Kyungsoo was talking about. Kyungsoo only laughed good naturedly.

“Minseok talks about you and your failures in cooking a lot. I’m the other head chef down at the restaurant. I’d recognize his cooking anywhere.”

“Oh, I, uh… don’t tell my parents,” Jongdae said with a sheepish smile. Kyungsoo nodded and mimed holding his finger to his mouth.

“I’m more of a pastry and dessert chef. If you won’t tell Jongin that I’m not the one making his favorite fried chicken, I won’t them you didn’t make a single thing on that table.”

“Deal.”


End file.
